Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle explains to the Boulder County commissioners, including Cindy Domenico, about overcrowding at the jail during a meeting at the County Courthouse on Wednesday. (Paul Aiken / Daily Camera)

Sheriff Joe Pelle thinks building a new facility for less dangerous offenders may be the best solution to jail overcrowding in Boulder County, he told the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday.

In theory, the project would provide more personalized treatment options for those sentenced to work release and other similar programs, which are presently far beyond capacity and, in Pelle's opinion, would be more effective in their own space.

The backlog across the county has about 60 men and women unable to get into work release.

"People are waiting for months to get into the program," he said Wednesday. "In Boulder County, people don't like to build a bigger jail, but I may be able to garner support to build a work release or an alternate facility, and free up space within jail for people who really need to be there."

Pelle has asked the National Institute of Corrections for grant money to commission an independent review, conducted by someone with expertise on work release programs, to determine whether an alternate sentencing facility is indeed the best approach to solving an overcrowding problem the sheriff says has "no one single answer."

The sheriff's conversation with the commissioners followed a Boulder City Council approval March 18 of several ordinances aimed at curbing what some have labeled "social misbehavior" on the municipal campus, including reinstating jail as an option for first-time offenders.

Pelle has warned that could mean sending inmates to other counties with more jail space, at a per-person, per-day cost upwards of $50.

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Pelle contended that the scope of Boulder County's overcrowding problem may not be fully understood by those not directly involved in law enforcement.

"This is a big deal," he said. "The worst thing we can do is have a whole bunch of independent decisions that impact the jail without consulting with each other."

In addition to the grant Pelle aims to secure, the commissioners said they'll engage the City Council in the next couple of weeks in an early discussion on possible courses of action.

Cindy Domenico, chairwoman of the commissioners, said she hopes the council will come to see the problem of where to send municipal offenders within the greater conversation on overcrowding.

"I'm looking forward to a productive talk about this piece of the question, but in the context of the larger picture," she said. "We need to understand the impacts from both sides."

An alternative sentencing facility could provide relief to the overcrowded Boulder County Jail, just north of the intersection of Valmont and Airport roads. It was originally built to accommodate 287 inmates, but thanks to double- and triple-bunking now regularly houses more than 500 inmates.

An alternative sentencing facility would likely free up about 80 beds at the main jail, Pelle said.

The main advantage of such a development, he said, would be that similar offenders could be treated under the same roof, with the same level of security, monitoring and programming.

"We could actually offer classes for them, which we can't do in the jail right now because we don't have space," he added.

The sheriff said he worries that not building a separate facility could undermine the rehabilitation of those in work release and in other such programs.

"When you take someone who's not a dangerous offender and you overprogram them," he said, "you really cause more harm than good."

Pelle also said mentally ill inmates comprise 40 percent of the jail's population, just 10 years after that figure was closer to 15 percent.

"We have some really chronic and acute cases that need a high level of care," he said. "People that are actively psychotic, they're in our jail and our deputy sheriffs are trying to care for them."

Meanwhile, Boulder County women are being held in jail in record numbers, too.

The 20-bed module originally built for female inmates is now sorely inadequate — Pelle said the facility handles more than 70 women on especially crowded days, and often must send some of them to other counties.

The issues around mental health and female inmates, Pelle added, can't be removed from the topic of overcrowding and possible solutions to it.

"I'm not trying to be the ogre here," he said. "I'm just trying to make sure everybody understands this is a big deal."

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